Watch: Priest Preaches 'Thank God for Marijuana'

Check out the video at the bottom of this post.

An Episcopalian priest who once served as the rector for St. Thomas on Snell Isle is making waves in the religious community with his stance on marijuana.

The Rev. Chris Schuller has pulled up stakes and moved to Venice, Calif., where his philosophy sounds more Rastafarian than Episcopalian, according to a recently released video on YouTube from Schuller’s HashtagHallelujah.com website. In that video, Schuller urges views to “thank God for marijuana.”

“Thanking God for weed might feel a little awkward at first,” Schuller said in the video. “Thanking God is going to feel so much better than throwing stones at people who are already stoned.”

Schuller goes on to advocate “non-judgment” as strains of Bob Marley’s “One Love” play in the background. He’s joined in the production by a number of people who sing along to the song while nodding agreement to Schuller’s points.

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The new leaf Schuller has turned in life is causing concern for the Episcopal Diocese of Southwest Florida, the Tampa Bay Times reported. It seems that while Schuller left St. Petersburg in 2011 and plans to leave the church, he remains under the jurisdiction of Florida Bishop Dabney Smith until his departure becomes official.

The bishop, the Times quoted a spokesman as saying, is “very disturbed by the video.”

Schuller, who says he doesn’t personally use marijuana, begins to explain his new direction in life on his Facebook page.

“So, my friend and I are starting a website called Hashtag Hallelujah at, you guessed it, hastaghallelujah.com where the goal is to make faith fun,” Schuller wrote in January.

The Times reports the 55-year-old left the Sunshine State to pursue a career writing movie scripts with a spiritual message and intends to preach outside the realm of the Episcopalian church.

While it’s unclear if Schuller’s writing career has taken off, his Facebook page indicates he’s managed to meet Jamie Pressly from his favorite television show, “My Name is Earl.”

To find out more about what the former Florida pastor has been up to, check out his website.

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